Taking a Tour of Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s Secret Race Car Graveyard

Halloween is approaching fast, which is why here at Street Legal TV we thought it would be fun to do a Halloween special. This won’t be a special like a Tree House of Horror episode instead, this will be an article about a graveyard- a stock car cemetery. NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. is known for his aggressive racing style and his good ole boy personality. It may surprise some fans to learn that he keeps a graveyard of totaled stock cars scattered on his property: Dirty Mo Acres.

One of Jimmie Johnson’s derelicts.

Dirty Mo Acres is located 200 miles north of Charlotte, North Carolina; it sits deep in the rural woods of NASCAR country. The property contains Jr.’s house, three practice oval tracks, an old west town complete with a saloon and a vile forest that acts as a final resting place for stock cars. Further adding to the eeriness of Dirty Mo Acres, is the gallows that exist near his car graveyard.

A couple of late model wrecks.

Like a traditional graveyard, Jr.’s has a spooky atmosphere about it. This is largely due to the density of the forest and the fact that the wrecks are scattered throughout the woods, instead of sitting in an open field like a junkyard. Several of the wrecks are in odd places: some have been placed inside of bushes, others are buried in tall grass, a few are smashed against trees, and one is even hung from a tall tree. Further adding to the creepiness, several of the wrecks have been placed smashed up against trees or thrown in ditches as if that’s where the crash took place.

Many of these wrecks were some of the most gruesome in all of NASCAR. These were crashes where cars ignited into flames, flew into the air and cars that flipped a dozen times as a result of being caught in a big one.

One of Brad Keselowski’s James-Finch wrecks.

From what we can gather from the pictures, the cars in the graveyard most appear to be late model NASCARs and a handful from the Winston cup era. There may be more Winston era cars as Jr. claims to have over 50 wrecks in his graveyard. A few of the cars that can be found through the forest include Will Power’s Indy car hanging from a tree, and one of Dale Jr.’s Budweiser cars from when he drove for Dale Earnhardt, Inc., can be found buried in a pile of leaves.

Will Power’s Indy car hanging from a tree.

Brad Keselowski has sent several of his race cars to the graveyard, these cars stretch as far back to his James-Finch racing days. According to the property manager, Sony Lunsford Keselowski is the single biggest donor to the cemetery (Perhaps we should call him the reaper). His smashed up rides can be found through out the woods in a few different locations such as in between trees and in ditches.

Another one of Keselowski's rides (Miller) and one of Jamie McMurray's (McDonalds).

Do you remember Dale Jr.’s Amp Energy car that you could have had your name written on if you signed up at Amp’s website? It’s ok if you don’t, but not surprisingly this car is in the graveyard as well. We are sure many of you remember Juan Pablo Montoya’s infamous jet dryer incident, well you may be happy to know that the car has end up here as well.

With countless NASCAR wrecks around, Dale Jr.’s property is gearhead heaven or better year redneck hell. Why does Jr. keep these wrecks? We personally think it’s because every gearhead has a fantasy of stumbling upon a junkyard full of race cars. Make sure to be careful this Halloween or it may be your rides final resting place.

About the author

Josh Courter

Josh Courter is a Power Automedia freelancer with a serious passion for anything custom. Rods, classics, sleds, and even motorcycles provide inspiration for Josh along with his passion for automotive history.